More than half the high-speed internet users in India say they have issues with their broadband connections and are getting speeds much lower than what they were promised. In fact, as much as one in 5 broadband/fiber/DSL subscribers say they face three or even more issues of connection disruption every month, according to a survey by LocalCircles, released Thursday morning.
The findings come even as Ookla, virtually the global standards keeper in internet speeds, announced last week that India’s internet speeds had improved impressively, moving up as much as 72 places to No.47 — better than even Japan and the UK.
However, the ground reality might just be a tad starker.
LocalCircles surveyed more than half a lakh users from more than 300 districts across the country to find out that even as the two leading operators, Bharti Airtel and Reliance Jio had launched fixed wireless access service in areas were wired broadband was not possible, ‘innumerable subscribers to broadband and fiber services in many cities continue to grapple with poor or unsatisfactory broadband and fiber connectivity and other disruption in services,’ according to a LocalCircles statement. Hundreds of complaints were received each month over the last six months, it added.
The survey found that 56 per cent broadband/fiber/DSL users have had problems with their connections — getting connection disruption issues or getting speeds lower than what they were promised. Data showed that 19 per cent faced frequent disruption, while 37 per cent respondents said the speed they get was much lower than what they were paying for. Forty-six per cent say that their complaint is often resolved only after 24 hours. In fact, the survey also indicated that as much as 70 per cent users surveyed were willing to switch to an alternate service provider for better quality, service or price.
Intriguingly, at least 3 per cent said they felt their router was being used by someone else, as random websites opened up while trying to access the internet, bringing into question the low quality of security many of the broadband connections in India offer.